OT-ish:Tour of the Big House/Facilities

I will be in town for the first two games of the year and wanted to take a tour of the big house while I was there. My wife will be in training so I figured this would be a great way to spend a few hours. I inquired and received the below information. As you will notice the minimum is $100 for one package and $200 for the other. Tours are usually at 10am or 1pm. I am thinking of going on Wednesday at either time and wanted to know if anyone else is interested - not really feeling like paying $100 for myself. Let me know and hopefully we can work something out. It does say that it has to be scheduled two weeks in advance but hopefully this can be changed for a week and a half notice.

Michigan Stadium Tour Includes:

Michigan Stadium Field

Michigan Stadium Press Box

Michigan Football Gameday Locker Room

Club & Suite Level

Cost:

$10 per person for groups of 10 or more

$100 minimum for groups under 10

$2 per person for non-profit groups & schools

Deluxe Athletic Department Facility Tour Includes:

Michigan Stadium Field

Michigan Stadium Press Box

Michigan Football Gameday Locker Room

Club & Suite Level

Yost Ice Arena

Wilpon Baseball & Softball Complex

Crisler Arena (construction permitting)

Cliff Keen Arena

Schembechler Hall Museum (if available)

Cost:

$20 per person for groups of 10 or more

$200 minimum for groups under 10

$4 per person for non-profit groups & schools

Payment Options

A check made out to The University of Michigan must be given to tour guide the day of the tour OR credit card payment can be used 24 hours prior to the day/time of the tour.

Rules & Regulations

Tours subject to tour guide’s availability and are NOT available on weekends or holidays

Tours MUST be scheduled at least two weeks in advance

No tours will be permitted on the Thursday, Friday, Saturday, or Sunday of a home football weekend.

I was even thinking ok, they will have these during football season and will be $15+/- like most pro teams do. A great way to make some extra money if it is done on a consistent base and I am sure you could have interns or retired volunteers work for free. I was obviously mistaken.

they are doing them again this year through the Alumni Association ($30 for members and $40 for non-members) and are held on Sundays during the season. However it looks as though the 1st two weeks are booked because the earliest date is Sept 25.

I went to one last year and it was well worth the $40. I loved it and recommend it to everyone that can drop the cash. I also got to meet Jamie Morris on the tour and he told some cool stories about Bo etc...great time.

Wow, so that's pretty expensive. The Red Sox, who attempt to suck every last dime out of their loyal fans (bricks are available from $250), only recently started charging $12 for an adult tour. It was free for a long time.

There will just be a day where the wind and rain and snow and shoes have made them all but unreadable, and cracked and chipped, and they'll be ready to replace the pavement in a corner (probably in the order they put them in), and say "hey, why are we paying for this? We don't have a database for what all the bricks say anyway, and we're not sending someone out there to read them (even if we could) to reproduce them, so lets just hit the fans up again and see if they want to pay for it. We'll be nice guys and ask the people who paid last time first. Hmmm...it's been a number of years though...let's say $100 brick is now worth $200. Inflation and all, amiright?" I just don't think it's going to be "forever" though.

When the bricks were layed, they placed a book at each gate where you could look up your brick info and it would direct you to the location. It was large, but unfortunetely temporary. My family has one in Champions Plaza. As correctly stated in this thread, they provided each brick donor a map to their brick location with a letter of thanks.

Others may remember that when U-M embarked upon the the brick program, they originally included five areas around the stadium. The fifth one, which never came to fruition for whatever reason, was to be placed at the tunnel entrance.

I think, btw, that prospective college students can go on a free tour of at least something down on the athletic campus. At least they offered that two years ago when I took my daughter for a visit. And I was down their on a game Friday. So, all you need is to find a kid who is in high school, and tag along as their chaperone.

I'm sure the tours are nice, but it used to be you could walk into Michigan stadium on on a Sunday and check it all out. Sometimes the place would be empty. It's kind of cool to be in such a massive, historical place on your own. One of the great landmarks of Michigan.

Now from the looks of things, it's become a very expensive park.

Reminds me of the scene in Jurassic Park where the lawyer gets greedy after seeing the lucrative opportunity ahead:

GENNARO: And we can charge anything we want! Two thousand a day,
ten thousand a day - - people will pay it! And then
there's the merchandising - -

HAMMOND: Donald, this Stadium was not built to cater only to the
super rich. Everyone in the world's got a right to
enjoy these historic grounds.

GENNARO: Sure, they will, they will. (laughing) We'll have a - - coupon day or something.

Ten bucks for a complete tour of Michigan Stadium including the locker room? And the press box? That is too expensive?

And it is two bucks per person for student tours or other non-profits.

Sounds to me like it is a program that just about breaks even, in covering the cost of (student-athlete?) tour guides at about fifteen bucks an hour, with their training, and administration and insurance for the operation.

I was just looking at the cost side of the equation. For one person to go on a guided tour of the Stadium complex, press box, locker room, etc., it probably costs the University something close to $100.

The old option, just leaving the gates open and letting people roam around at all hours, just can't work in this day and age. I remember as a little kid, playing football on the practice field where Schembechler Hall now sits. I remember throwing and kicking footballs inside Yost Feildhouse. There's a lot of areas no longer freely accessible.

There might yet be an option, wherein the Athletic Department could set up a few pre-scheduled tours for people who want to go by themselves but do not wish to schedule their own tour. But gosh, we are still talking about pretty realistic and reasonable time/place/manner restrictions by the Athletic Department.

used for parking during basketball games? When I was still at Michigan I had a friend in town and he wanted to see the stadium. I gave him the standard 'Well we can go up there but we're not going to be able to get inside.' I think this was right as a basketball game was ending bc people were streaming out and we were able to get inside. Nobody stopped us so we made our way down to the field (we weren't the only ones there). We didn't stay very long but it was pretty amazing to be able to walk up and see the stadium open and then end up on the field.

The parking right around the stadium is still used for basketball games, so you can walk around that area. But they now block off the entrances to the stands with gates, so you can't get down to the field like you used to.

because it obviously directly ties with Michigan but what I thought was OT was the fact that I was kind of saying "hey guys lets go see the stadium, locker room, etc... because I dont feel like spending $100 on this"... hence the "ish". Seemed logical in the middle of a busy work day.

I took my family on the tour yesterday morning. The locker room was my favorite part. They were going to practice in the stadium in the afternoon and they players had their gear at the lockers. Was really awesome. I got a picture of Denard's locker and his shoes sitting right in front of his locker. If anyone can tell me how I can put the pictures on hear, please let me know and I will add them.

I did the $40 tour last season and I would say that it is worth it. While walking around campus we were able to get into and walk around everything listed above in the deluxe tour except the press box, Schembechler Hall, and Crisler Arena. If you dont want to pay to get into some of the facilities, just walk around on a self guided tour and see it on your own.

@ndjames86 -- The stadium is no longer open for people to just stop by for a visit -- during the season or otherwise. The only way to see it is through one of these official tours. Even boneheads like me who can waive around a press credential cannot get in to take photos.

Others questioned the value of paying to see the stadium. Someone who has never been to the stadium, or never been in the club area, suite, or press box, locker room, etc., might find it extremely worth their while at $10 per person. Seriously, who cannot find another nine rabid Michigan fans to share in the cost? Ten dollars is NOT a lot of money considering all that you get to see -- complete with a tour guide! What a great opportunity for a bunch of friends to get together and go places in and around the stadium very few people ever get to see. Recently DB announced how they are opening up the facility for weddings and receptions. How about a tour of the stadium for the groomsmen before a round of golf?

Ever since I was a kid I have always been fascinated with Michigan Stadium. I have seen it expand multiple times, and with each new seat it takes on a new aura. To be able to come and work there is really special to me. When I first started shooting photos at games, media parking was free. That went out several years ago. We have to pay just like everyone else. Does this detract from my gamedays? Not a chance. I enjoy being there after all of these years just as much as I did my first time.

Those that go and pay for the tour -- especially with a group of friends -- will likely really enjoy it.

FWIW: You can get a free tour of Wilpon by just walking into the stadium on most days. Same with Yost (usually something going on, so the doors are unlocked, though not always) and Cliff Keen. Crisler is probably the only one you couldn't get into.

Granted, those "self-tours" come without access to locker rooms and some dude telling you about the 1964 baseball National Championship. But worth considering.